Mother-of-three told her headaches and sore neck were caused by her PILLOW is now dying of brain cancer – and fears this will be her last Mother’s Day

When Sophie Morris went to her GP with neck pain, she was reassured to be told her pillow was most likely to blame.

But just weeks later, the mother-of-three received the devastating news she actually had a deadly brain tumour.

Ms Morris, 37, initially put her sickness and tiredness down to being pregnant while working 10 hour days and having two children under six.

But when her pain it became so bad she was struggling to get up the stairs, she spoke to her midwife who advised her to eat more.

Her vision and balance deteriorated in the following months, forcing her to give up driving over fears she was a risk to herself and other road users.

Ms Morris, from St Ives, Cambridgeshire, went to her GP but was told it was likely just tiredness from being a new mother again.

It was only when she made an appointment to see her opticians that she discovered something was pushing on her eyes.

She was referred to hospital where doctors operated before making the devastating diagnosis – and told her she only had months to live.

‘When the doctor said the prognosis was around 15 months, I struggled to register his words,’ she said.

‘My children’s innocent little faces leapt into my mind. Fynn was only five-months-old and I had two other children under six. My babies needed me. How could I possibly die?

‘All I’d ever wanted was to be a mum. We’d recently moved house and I’d just had another baby to complete our family.

‘I thought we had years of happy memories in front of us all. Now that had all been snatched away from us.

‘But I couldn’t cry, I just felt numb

Ms Morris said the symptoms started with tiredness and headaches. She thought perhaps she was expecting twins and her anaemia could be another factor.
But when she started getting mood swings and her exhaustion was making simple things like walking upstairs a problem, she sought help from her midwife.
‘She told me I should be eating better.
‘By the time I’d got home from work and sorted the kids out, I was too tired to have a proper meal and would just grab a slice of toast. She also said to rest when I could – easier said than done.’

She hoped she would feel better after Fynn was born in May 2013, but the symptoms intensified.

Ms Morris started getting double vision, night headaches and pins and needles in her arms and legs a month after he was born.

As her vision got worse, she gave up driving as it felt like ‘oncoming cars were driving into me’.

When she could hardly cross the road because of double vision and balance problems, she went to see her family doctor in August 2013.

‘She said I was tired as I was a new mum.

‘Then she told me to buy a new pillow to help with my neck pain which I did.’

The GP also advised her to get extra help from her partner, Gavin Smythers, a 37-year-old welder.

But by October, when her symptoms became so bad she could hardly get out of bed – and her headaches started waking her up at night – she made an appointment to see an optician.’

‘I could see by his face there was a problem,’ she said.

‘He showed me pictures of my eyes and said there was something pushing on them causing the pressure and told me to go straight to the eye clinic at my local hospital.

‘At that stage, I never dreamt it was something sinister.

‘One night I had googled my symptoms and read about brain tumours, but I told myself not to be daft. They were rare and it was far more likely to be something else

‘I thought it must be a virus or even multiple sclerosis.’

The following day, she went to the eye clinic at Hinchingbrooke Hospital and had an MRI scan.

It revealed she had a lesion on her brain and that they would meet with the neurosurgery team at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge, to discuss the scan.

Doctors were uncertain what it was and said they would only know for certain when they operated.

She underwent a six-hour operation that month where surgeons removed as much of the tumour as they could.

There’s no easy way to tell your children that Mummy is going to die

‘Even when I came round from surgery and asked what it was, I was told I’d have to wait until the test results,’ she said.

‘It was our 10th anniversary the next day which we spent with Gavin at my bedside.’

A week later bruised and battered from surgery, her oncologist broke the devastating news from the biopsy which revealed she had a highly aggressive, terminal glioblastoma.

Tragically, she was told her prognosis was little over a year.

Ms Morris underwent six weeks of radiotherapy and started chemotherapy but her platelets count dropped too low to finish the course.

She now has scans every three months to monitor the tumour.

‘I thought it must be a virus or even multiple sclerosis.’

The following day, she went to the eye clinic at Hinchingbrooke Hospital and had an MRI scan.

It revealed she had a lesion on her brain and that they would meet with the neurosurgery team at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge, to discuss the scan.

Doctors were uncertain what it was and said they would only know for certain when they operated.

She underwent a six-hour operation that month where surgeons removed as much of the tumour as they could.

There’s no easy way to tell your children that Mummy is going to die

‘Even when I came round from surgery and asked what it was, I was told I’d have to wait until the test results,’ she said.

‘It was our 10th anniversary the next day which we spent with Gavin at my bedside.’

A week later bruised and battered from surgery, her oncologist broke the devastating news from the biopsy which revealed she had a highly aggressive, terminal glioblastoma.

Tragically, she was told her prognosis was little over a year.

Ms Morris underwent six weeks of radiotherapy and started chemotherapy but her platelets count dropped too low to finish the course.

She underwent more radiotherapy last summer which did shrink the tumour but her last scan in February showed that it was growing again.

‘Now I’m running out of treatment options,’ she said.

‘I’m deciding whether to try a new chemo treatment and am hoping to get on a clinical trial to buy me more time.

‘It’s now been two-and-half years since I was told I had 15 months to live.

‘I don’t really let myself think about the future – I take each day as it comes.’

A year ago, the couple broke the news to children Cian, eight, and Rhea, six, but Fynn – who turns three in May – is too young to understand.

‘There’s no easy way to tell your children that Mummy is going to die,’ she said.

‘I told them Mummy had a lump in her head which made her very poorly. And that sadly doctors couldn’t make me better.

‘They didn’t really take it in at first. Now it’s affecting them more. Cian gets angry with me and Rhea can’t stop hugging me and says she’s sad I won’t be at her wedding.

‘It breaks my heart that I won’t see my children get married and hold their babies in my arms.

‘And, as a mother, all you want to do is protect your children, but I am absolutely powerless that this cruel disease will take me away from them and Gavin.

‘But I cherish every second with them and am thankful I am still here to cuddle them on Mother’s Day.’

Ms Morris has shared her story to support The Brain Tumour Charity’s ‘Bandanas for Brain Tumours Day’.

Although Ms Morris has been told that earlier diagnosis would not have made a difference to her prognosis, she said she wishes she had been more aware of the symptoms of brain tumours.

Charity chief executive, Sarah Lindsell, said it was funding researchers to trial a checklist of simple tests that GPs could use in the surgery to identify patients whose symptoms might be caused by a brain tumour and who should be referred for further investigations.

‘We have already brought down the average time it takes to diagnose childhood brain tumours in the UK through our HeadSmart campaign, which sets out for GPs and others the key warning signs of brain tumours in children and young people,’ she said.

‘Sophie’s experience shows how important it is that we do the same for adults. She is a true inspiration and, despite her own challenges, she has raised an amazing £53, 500 for the charity.

‘We are hugely grateful to her for helping us to raise awareness and money. It’s only through the efforts of people like Sophie that we can continue to make a real difference.’

Bandanas for Brain Tumours Day aims to raise awareness about brain tumours – the biggest cancer killer of children and adults under 40 in the UK – and funds for The Brain Tumour Charity’s drive to reduce diagnosis times, saving more lives.